City Care's New website, as implemented by Ingenux
30th March, 2010 - Ingenux has completed the design and development of a custom-built site for City Care which was launched this month. City Care is a non-profit organization that serves the less fortunate in the Oklahoma City metro. They provide food for the homeless and impoverished, affordable and supportive housing for low income individuals, and offer a mentor program to help those who find themselves upon difficult times.
"Working on a project like the City Care website is something everyone at Ingenux takes personally," Brandy Semore, Ingenux Production Director said. "Its organizations like City Care that help make our community what it is...giving."
The website Ingenux built allows the administrator to update News & Events and allows online registration for those participating in the fundraising events; this is all with the use of a custom built content management system. While visiting the City Care site users can easily receive information about volunteering as well as donating monetary funds with just a few clicks. For more information on City Care and how they are helping their local community, please visit www.citycareinc.org.
Ingenux is a full-service, custom web design and software development firm with a focus on highly driven web application and desktop software development. Companies hire Ingenux to design, develop and deliver custom software applications faster, cheaper and better than they can do themselves. Our slogan "We Develop the Hard Stuff," is our commitment to create innovative business software solutions for any type of business that are efficient, user-friendly, cost-effective, cutting edge and fit to your exact business model. We take pride in solving current challenges our customers face as Ingenux custom software makes businesses run better.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Tech Dirt
Is the Customer Always Right?
I have read so many articles about this topic over the years. It is what we were grown up on, a phrase that has to be more figurative than anything else, or there would be no businesses, profitable ones at least.
I have no problem whatsoever with the premise of the articles, but I've come across far too many small businesses that view this age old saying "the customer is always right" as a lone justification for taking abuse at the hands of life sucking customers. I believe in a better saying that allows customer and business to work together. The Right Customer is Always Right.
Now, here's what I mean by that. There is absolutely nothing wrong, in fact there's everything right, with building a culture of making the customer thrilled at every turn, but you can't adopt the mentality without two things firmly in place first.
Read more at: http://www.ingenux.com/viewnewsletter.php?date=Apr.10&status=pull#LETTER.BLOCK14
I have read so many articles about this topic over the years. It is what we were grown up on, a phrase that has to be more figurative than anything else, or there would be no businesses, profitable ones at least.
I have no problem whatsoever with the premise of the articles, but I've come across far too many small businesses that view this age old saying "the customer is always right" as a lone justification for taking abuse at the hands of life sucking customers. I believe in a better saying that allows customer and business to work together. The Right Customer is Always Right.
Now, here's what I mean by that. There is absolutely nothing wrong, in fact there's everything right, with building a culture of making the customer thrilled at every turn, but you can't adopt the mentality without two things firmly in place first.
Read more at: http://www.ingenux.com/viewnewsletter.php?date=Apr.10&status=pull#LETTER.BLOCK14
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
FUN FREEBIE
FREE CRISPY BREADED FISH FROM LONG JOHN SILVER'S
You like fish? Have we found a deal for you. Long John Silver's is offering a coupon for free crispy breaded fish on their website. The catch? (Get it? Fish. Catch. Heh.) You have to sign up for a contest which will award you up $20,000 if you win.
Wait. Really? Free fish AND you might win $20,000? Where do you sign up?
To sign up please follow the link below:
http://www.ingenux.com/viewnewsletter.php?date=Mar.10&status=pull
You like fish? Have we found a deal for you. Long John Silver's is offering a coupon for free crispy breaded fish on their website. The catch? (Get it? Fish. Catch. Heh.) You have to sign up for a contest which will award you up $20,000 if you win.
Wait. Really? Free fish AND you might win $20,000? Where do you sign up?
To sign up please follow the link below:
http://www.ingenux.com/viewnewsletter.php?date=Mar.10&status=pull
Google Tech Tips & Tricks
Google is the most widely used search engine on the Internet, by a landslide. We all know that, but how many of us know about Google's features beyond basic searching?
Google is much more than a search engine. Using Google, you can perform calculations. Try typing "1+1" and you'll see the result. Better yet, type "1mi to km" and you'll see how many kilometers are in a mile. Useful, quick and available to every computer online.
There is a plethora of useful gadgets, widgets and tools made freely available by Google. For instance, check out Google's Browser Size Tool, and enter a website address to view what percentage of users can see what information on the page. You can also read about some of the experiments that the engineers at Google have been working on to keep up to date with all the latest advancements.
Visit Google Labs for more. If you want to up your search game, visit Google for a reference of available searches.
Google is much more than a search engine. Using Google, you can perform calculations. Try typing "1+1" and you'll see the result. Better yet, type "1mi to km" and you'll see how many kilometers are in a mile. Useful, quick and available to every computer online.
There is a plethora of useful gadgets, widgets and tools made freely available by Google. For instance, check out Google's Browser Size Tool, and enter a website address to view what percentage of users can see what information on the page. You can also read about some of the experiments that the engineers at Google have been working on to keep up to date with all the latest advancements.
Visit Google Labs for more. If you want to up your search game, visit Google for a reference of available searches.
Ingenux News Area Code Deals Selects Ingenux To Develop Website For A New eCommerce Venture
February 25th, 2010 - Area Code Deals has selected Ingenux to develop an online daily deal website that will offer consumer products and services to individual markets and regional outlets that will be defined by this dynamic application. This website will serve not only consumers, but will provide businesses with an outlet to reach the local market and drive more business to their location. Users will be able to simply submit their email address and receive emails of local deals while also having the ability to share with friends and family.
About Ingenux:
Ingenux is a full-service, custom web design and software development firm with a focus on highly-driven web application and desktop software development. Companies hire Ingenux to design, develop and deliver custom software applications faster, cheaper and better than they can do themselves. Our slogan, "We Develop the Hard Stuff," is our commitment to create innovative business software solutions for any type of business that are efficient, user-friendly, cost-effective, cutting edge and fit to your exact business model. We take pride in solving current challenges our customers face as Ingenux custom software makes businesses run better.
This Website Is Slow... Why?
Have you ever thought about what happens when you surf the web and have to wait on a webpage to open? It's not as simple as it seems. Yes, there are thousands of websites out there that look like they were developed by a barrel full of color blind monkeys. They are slow just because they were developed like a 2nd grader's papier mâché project. Others think their computer is broken or just blame their spouse. However, people really don't know what happens when you hit GO after typing in www.shopbop.com. Below is a step by step explanation of how a webpage is rendered into a browser.
1.
You type a URL into the address bar of your preferred browser.
2.
The browser parses the URL to find the protocol, host, port, and path.
3.
It forms an HTTP request (that was most likely the protocol).
4.
To reach the host, it first needs to translate the human readable host into an IP number, and it does this by performing a DNS lookup on the host.
5.
Then a socket needs to be opened from the user's computer to that IP number, on the port specified (most often port 80).
6.
When a connection is open, the HTTP request is sent to the host.
7.
The host forwards the request to the server software (most often Apache) configured to listen on the specified port.
8.
The server inspects the request (most often only the path), and launches the server plug-in needed to handle the request (corresponding to the server language you use, PHP, Java, .NET, Python, etc.).
9.
The plug-in accesses the full request, and starts to prepare an HTTP response.
10.
To construct the response a database is (most likely) accessed. A database search is made based on parameters in the path (or data) of the request.
11.
Data from the database, together with other information the plug-in decides to add, is combined into a long string of text (probably HTML).
12.
The plug-in combines that data with some meta data (in the form of HTTP headers), and sends the HTTP response back to the browser.
13.
The browser receives the response, and parses the HTML (which with 95% probability is broken) in the response.
14.
A DOM tree is built out of the broken HTML.
15.
New requests are made to the server for each new resource that is found in the HTML source (typically images, style sheets, and JavaScript files). Go back to step 3 and repeat for each resource.
16.
Style sheets are parsed and the rendering information in each gets attached to the matching node in the DOM tree.
17.
JavaScript is parsed and executed, DOM nodes are moved, and style information is updated accordingly.
18. The browser renders the page on the screen according to the DOM tree and the style information for each node.
19.
You see the page on the screen.
20.
You get annoyed because the whole process was too slow.
I, too, get annoyed when the above steps take longer than one tenth of a second. But now at least I have some documentation to look at, while waiting the remaining fractions of a second before the page renders.
For more pointers on this topic, please contact us. We are happy to assist.
1.
You type a URL into the address bar of your preferred browser.
2.
The browser parses the URL to find the protocol, host, port, and path.
3.
It forms an HTTP request (that was most likely the protocol).
4.
To reach the host, it first needs to translate the human readable host into an IP number, and it does this by performing a DNS lookup on the host.
5.
Then a socket needs to be opened from the user's computer to that IP number, on the port specified (most often port 80).
6.
When a connection is open, the HTTP request is sent to the host.
7.
The host forwards the request to the server software (most often Apache) configured to listen on the specified port.
8.
The server inspects the request (most often only the path), and launches the server plug-in needed to handle the request (corresponding to the server language you use, PHP, Java, .NET, Python, etc.).
9.
The plug-in accesses the full request, and starts to prepare an HTTP response.
10.
To construct the response a database is (most likely) accessed. A database search is made based on parameters in the path (or data) of the request.
11.
Data from the database, together with other information the plug-in decides to add, is combined into a long string of text (probably HTML).
12.
The plug-in combines that data with some meta data (in the form of HTTP headers), and sends the HTTP response back to the browser.
13.
The browser receives the response, and parses the HTML (which with 95% probability is broken) in the response.
14.
A DOM tree is built out of the broken HTML.
15.
New requests are made to the server for each new resource that is found in the HTML source (typically images, style sheets, and JavaScript files). Go back to step 3 and repeat for each resource.
16.
Style sheets are parsed and the rendering information in each gets attached to the matching node in the DOM tree.
17.
JavaScript is parsed and executed, DOM nodes are moved, and style information is updated accordingly.
18. The browser renders the page on the screen according to the DOM tree and the style information for each node.
19.
You see the page on the screen.
20.
You get annoyed because the whole process was too slow.
I, too, get annoyed when the above steps take longer than one tenth of a second. But now at least I have some documentation to look at, while waiting the remaining fractions of a second before the page renders.
For more pointers on this topic, please contact us. We are happy to assist.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Apple Announces iPad
On January 27th, 2010, Apple Inc. announced their newest device, the iPad. The iPad is a casual, mobile computing device that some say will revolutionize the way that we surf the internet, read books, and the way that we think of computers in general. While this sounds exciting, how accurate is it? Ingenux cuts through the hype for you.
So what does it do? The iPad is a casual computing device capable of reading eBooks, checking email, surfing the internet, and more depending on the applications you load onto it. It has a multi-touch screen, like the iPhone. The screen is 9.7", in full color. It has a 10-hour battery life, and uses a solid-state hard drive instead of a hard disk. Its functionality should be expanded by access to Apple's much-lauded App Store.
eBooks
While not specifically designed for it, the iPad will work as an eBook reader. This puts it into direct competition with Amazon's Kindle Device, Sony's eBook Reader, and Barnes and Noble's Nook Device. Of these three competitors, only the Nook has a color screen. The Kindle and Sony eBook reader devices employ a technology called eInk, which goes to great pains to simulate the look and contrast of actual black ink on white paper. Apple has eschewed this concept in favor of a full color backlit screen.
The iPad is loaded with features compared to other eBook readers. It comes standard with a color screen, speakers, headphone jack, microphone, support for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ambient Light Sensor, Accelerometer, and a SIM card slot for wireless broadband access. Not to mention, the iPad supports a long list of file formats that its competition in the eBook market simply doesn't address. Further, Apple is applying the lessons learned through its iTunes online music store to an online iBook store.
Internet
The iPad won't come with free wireless connectivity, like Amazon's Kindle device. However, it will come with a SIM card slot for wireless, mobile internet access. This makes the iPad a credible competitor for netbooks like Dell's Inspiron Mini and Asus' EEE PC. Also, the 10-hour battery life of the iPad wipes the floor with most netbooks. The iPad also features a multi-touch interface, weighs 1.5 pounds, and can be used in either landscape or portrait format. The accelerometer in the device automatically registers the position in which it is being held, and adjusts the screen accordingly.
Still, netbooks are full-fledged (if tiny) computers, with full Operating Systems. You can load programs onto most netbooks yourself, as you wish, unlike the iPad. Which brings us to the next point.
App Store
If all the iPad did was read books and surf the Internet, it wouldn't be quite so interesting. But you can also expand its usefulness by downloading applications from the App Store, which makes the iPad not only more entertaining, but more useful as well. The problem is, you can only download applications from the App store. There's no other way to load programs onto the device, limiting its utility significantly.
Casual Computing
What is casual computing? Think of it as computing from the couch. The iPad seems like a natural fit for this style of computing. The iPad weighs about the same as a hefty paperback with the outside dimensions of a magazine.
Drawbacks
The iPad isn't perfection. Some have pointed to the lack of a phone in the device as a serious flaw. Others have mentioned that the iPad does not support Flash, rendering a large parts of the Internet unusable. Some critics have also mentioned the lack of a camera as being a puzzling deal breaker.
More seriously, the iPad does not support multitasking. This means that you can't listen to music while surfing the internet, for example.
Conclusion
The iPad looks devastating as competition for eBook Readers and netbooks. Apple is saying that the future of computing is about portability and ease of use. To some, that lack of flexibility is a hindrance, but to others, it's the entire reason that they are looking forward to the iPad.
After all, sometimes all you want is to check the news, read a book, or listen to some music. And it doesn't necessarily require a decked out desktop computer or a massive laptop to do it.
The iPad begins shipping in March, with prices starting at $499.
So what does it do? The iPad is a casual computing device capable of reading eBooks, checking email, surfing the internet, and more depending on the applications you load onto it. It has a multi-touch screen, like the iPhone. The screen is 9.7", in full color. It has a 10-hour battery life, and uses a solid-state hard drive instead of a hard disk. Its functionality should be expanded by access to Apple's much-lauded App Store.
eBooks
While not specifically designed for it, the iPad will work as an eBook reader. This puts it into direct competition with Amazon's Kindle Device, Sony's eBook Reader, and Barnes and Noble's Nook Device. Of these three competitors, only the Nook has a color screen. The Kindle and Sony eBook reader devices employ a technology called eInk, which goes to great pains to simulate the look and contrast of actual black ink on white paper. Apple has eschewed this concept in favor of a full color backlit screen.
The iPad is loaded with features compared to other eBook readers. It comes standard with a color screen, speakers, headphone jack, microphone, support for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ambient Light Sensor, Accelerometer, and a SIM card slot for wireless broadband access. Not to mention, the iPad supports a long list of file formats that its competition in the eBook market simply doesn't address. Further, Apple is applying the lessons learned through its iTunes online music store to an online iBook store.
Internet
The iPad won't come with free wireless connectivity, like Amazon's Kindle device. However, it will come with a SIM card slot for wireless, mobile internet access. This makes the iPad a credible competitor for netbooks like Dell's Inspiron Mini and Asus' EEE PC. Also, the 10-hour battery life of the iPad wipes the floor with most netbooks. The iPad also features a multi-touch interface, weighs 1.5 pounds, and can be used in either landscape or portrait format. The accelerometer in the device automatically registers the position in which it is being held, and adjusts the screen accordingly.
Still, netbooks are full-fledged (if tiny) computers, with full Operating Systems. You can load programs onto most netbooks yourself, as you wish, unlike the iPad. Which brings us to the next point.
App Store
If all the iPad did was read books and surf the Internet, it wouldn't be quite so interesting. But you can also expand its usefulness by downloading applications from the App Store, which makes the iPad not only more entertaining, but more useful as well. The problem is, you can only download applications from the App store. There's no other way to load programs onto the device, limiting its utility significantly.
Casual Computing
What is casual computing? Think of it as computing from the couch. The iPad seems like a natural fit for this style of computing. The iPad weighs about the same as a hefty paperback with the outside dimensions of a magazine.
Drawbacks
The iPad isn't perfection. Some have pointed to the lack of a phone in the device as a serious flaw. Others have mentioned that the iPad does not support Flash, rendering a large parts of the Internet unusable. Some critics have also mentioned the lack of a camera as being a puzzling deal breaker.
More seriously, the iPad does not support multitasking. This means that you can't listen to music while surfing the internet, for example.
Conclusion
The iPad looks devastating as competition for eBook Readers and netbooks. Apple is saying that the future of computing is about portability and ease of use. To some, that lack of flexibility is a hindrance, but to others, it's the entire reason that they are looking forward to the iPad.
After all, sometimes all you want is to check the news, read a book, or listen to some music. And it doesn't necessarily require a decked out desktop computer or a massive laptop to do it.
The iPad begins shipping in March, with prices starting at $499.
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